


A Lesson in Swordplay

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Series: Adventures in Egypt [9]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 14:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14107392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: In Alexandria, the Doctor and Sarah get into trouble involving some rowdy boys.





	A Lesson in Swordplay

**Author's Note:**

> Written because the Doctor mentions learning sword fighting tips from Cleopatra's guard captain in "Masque of Mandragora."

 The Doctor and Sarah joined the crowd leaving the amphitheater in Alexandria, excitedly talking about the play they had just seen.

 “It really is wonderful to see a Greek play performed like this,” Sarah remarked. “Not updated or modernized for people from my time.”

 “Indeed,” the Doctor agreed. “The original version, even directed by the person who wrote it.”

 Their hands joined as the crowd thinned once they reached the street level. They started to head back to their room in an inn, and got a little distance from the theatre before they heard a voice shout out from the side, “Hey!” They ignored it, not thinking it was meant for them.

 “I know you can hear me, unless your height impairs your ears!” The voice the closer now.

 Sarah glanced around, and sighed at the realization. “He means us, or maybe just you.”

 “How can you tell?” The Doctor kept walking.

 “You tower over almost everyone we’ve seen in Egypt. Even I’m noticeably taller than most of the women. I don’t see anyone else of notable height around.” At the sound of several hurrying footsteps towards them, Sarah considered running, but the Doctor smiled down at her before turning to face the people whose attention they had caught.

 “Yes?” the Doctor prompted politely to the group of six young men. They were no older than twenty, certainly. Sarah eyed the short swords they all had on their hips.

 One of the young men stepped forward from the group of both Greek and Egyptian. “Can you fight?” he asked the Timelord. “You look like you could.”

 “Fight? I usually try to avoid fights. Why do you ask?”

 “I, Callius, challenge you to a swordfight. Until one of us draws blood from the other.”

 “I’m sorry to disappoint, but my wife and I are heading back to our room at the nearby inn after a pleasant day. Do we really want to spoil that with a spot of violence?” The Doctor patted Sarah’s hand on his forearm without looking away from the group.

 “Sounds like he’s trying to slither out of a fair challenge,” one of the young men laughed.

 “Why are you set on challenging him?” Sarah asked.

 “I want to best one of his height in combat,” Callius replied with a cocky grin.

 “Boys…” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You really don’t have anything better to do?”

 “I do see one problem,” the Doctor stated, taking out his dagger. “I am armed only with this.”

 Without hesitation, one of the others tossed the Doctor his sword. The Doctor caught it easily, and sighed, “That’s settled, then.” He put his dagger back in his belt.

 Sarah tugged on the side of the Doctor’s tunic. “You don’t have to,” she reminded.

 “Oh, going to listen to your wife? A man as big as you?”

 “Sarah has helped me through situations you couldn’t possibly imagine!” the Doctor snapped. “Physical altercations included. She’s certainly more effective than a lot of boys wanting to prove themselves against people in the street.” He turned to Sarah, a small smile on his face. “What choice do I have? They want a fight, and won’t leave us alone until I beat...” He looked to the eager young man. “What was your name?”

 “Callius,” the teen replied, cockiness turning to annoyance that his opponent wouldn’t even do him the honour of remembering his name.

 “Callius, that’s it,” the Doctor said dismissively as he looked back to Sarah. “Until I beat him, they’re going to continue to harass us. I can see they’re a rather determined lot. You know I have some experience with swordplay. And it’s only until first blood.”

 “We don’t want to kill anyone,” Callius assured.

 “See? Perfectly fine.” The Doctor’s grin showed his teeth. “Might even be fun.”

 “Alright,” Sarah relented. “You be careful, anyway.” She took a few steps back.

 “I’m ready, Calli-“ the Doctor dodged to the side as Callius leapt at him. “Trying to get an early advantage?”

 Sarah watched, a hand near her mouth, as the Doctor and the teen circled each other, going in for strikes where they saw opportunities. She very quickly realized the Doctor wasn’t really going for anything that would win the match, instead opting to have fun with this.

 The fight rapidly drew a crowd, who gathered around to watch. The Doctor’s height definitely gave him an advantage in reach, and his odd sort of grace let him dodge out of the way when he chose not to directly block. Sarah could also tell that he was purposely letting Callius get in close.

 “You can do it!” shouted one of Callius’ friends. “Fell the giant!”

 “I’d hardly call myself a giant,” the Doctor remarked, blocking a swipe to his thigh. “I don’t at all measure up to the proper ones I’ve met.” He grinned, “Going for my legs is a good strategy. Cut me down to size.”

 Callius snarled at the mocking tone, and redoubled his efforts, coming in harder and faster. He was going to draw more than a little blood if a strike landed now.

 The Doctor’s grin didn’t fade. “That’s right, put your back into it. Don’t make this easy for me.” A moment later, he spun away from a strike, raising his sword just enough to create a thin red slice across the young man’s bicep. “Oh, would you look at that. I’ve won.”

 Callius glanced down at his arm, then growled and went for the Doctor again.

 The Doctor wasn’t caught off-guard. He stepped to the side, and tripped Callius. The young man went sprawling, landing near the circle of spectators.

 Callius hurried back up to his feet. “If I can’t defeat you alone…”

 Sarah knew the situation had just become more dangerous, the playful and arrogant mood from the group who had challenged them gone. A little blood from the Doctor wouldn’t satisfy them now. Barely a second later, one of the other young men drew his sword and made for the Doctor, the Timelord’s back turned from the group. Sarah leapt forward and grabbed the hand holding the sword with both of hers. “No you don’t!” she shouted. She moved in front of him, making certain he would have to get her out of the way to get to the Timelord.

 “Two on one?” the Doctor spun to see Sarah keeping the teen at bay. “Thanks for the warning, Sarah.” He refocused his attention to Callius. “Hardly sporting.”

 Sarah kept her grip as the young man she was keeping back tried swinging her away.

 “That’s enough!” shouted an authoritative voice.

 Within a second, the four who weren’t engaged with the Doctor and Sarah bolted through the crowd as a four men dressed in guard uniforms pushed through. The leader quickly decided, “Arrest those two,” pointing to the two young men. To the crowd, “Everyone else, go about your business!”

 “If you had only taken your loss with honour,” the Doctor said as two of the guards grabbed Callius. Even without a sword, Callius swung at the Doctor with a fist, which didn’t come close to hitting the target.

 The young man with Sarah broke away from her and tried running, and was caught by the third guard.

 As the two young men were half-dragged down the street, and the crowd dispersed, the lead guard asked, “Are you two harmed?”

 The Doctor and Sarah looked each other over before shaking their heads. The Timelord slightly bowed his head to the Egyptian man. He handed the borrowed sword to him. “Thank you for intervening. If all six of them had jumped in-“

 “It is of no problem. I am Tekhet, captain of the guard in Alexandria.”

 “I’m the Doctor, and this is Sarah.”

 Tekhet smiled at Sarah. “It takes the heart of a lion, nebet, to jump in front of a swinging sword.”

 Sarah shrugged. “Not the worst thing I’ve stopped from harming him.”

 Tekhet chuckled. “Indeed not?” He thought for a moment. “I have time to spare. Come with me?”

 “Where to?” Sarah asked first. “We’re not in trouble, are we?”

 “To a training ground. It is not far.” He took a sideways glance to the Doctor. “From what I saw of the fight, you did well, your height giving you enough advantage.”

 “Thank you.”

 “And while it’s obvious you have handled a sword before, I think you could do with a little instruction.”

 “You’re going to give us a free lesson in sword fighting?” asked Sarah as they followed Tekhet.

 Tekhet nodded. “Why not? Unless you have any pressing business to attend?”

 “Oh no, we’d be delighted,” the Doctor responded.

 They neared the palace, and Sarah’s eyes widened.  “You’re the palace guard captain?”

 “Yes, personal bodyguard to the pharaoh Cleopatra.” Tekhet smiled slightly at Sarah’s expression. “I was on a routine patrol out in the city. We do not want to become out of touch with the people.”

 They didn’t go into the main part of palace itself, to Sarah’s disappointment. She did want to meet Cleopatra, or at least get a glimpse of her in person, and this was the best chance they would get, being so close to where she lived. Still, being this close was a privilege, and she knew better than to ask Tekhet to arrange a meeting.

 Tekhet led them into a training courtyard, complete with a few racks of weapons and straw dummies and wooden shields set up. Tekhet considered the sword from the group of young men in his hand, then handed it back to the Doctor. “Unless you’d like to use another one?”

 “This one is fine,” the Doctor grinned. “It served me well enough.”

 Before Sarah could ask what about her, the guard captain went over to a sword rack and chose one for her. “I hope this isn’t too heavy?” he asked, giving the weapon to her.

 Sarah gave the short sword a few experimental swings. “I can handle it.”

 Tekhet nodded encouragingly, and drew his own sword. “To begin…”

 

 The Doctor and Sarah enjoyed the time spent with Tekhet, learning sword fighting pointers and motions from him. While the Doctor did already have some experience, Sarah definitely was eager to learn, knowing it could come in handy someday, with the eventful life they had.

 Once Tekhet was confident enough in their technique, he gave them wooden swords to practice on each other with.

 “You are fast learners,” Tekhet commented as Sarah ducked a swing from the Doctor and landed a gentle blow to his shin.

 “That’s a necessary skill, in our lives,” the Doctor responded. “Along with being able to adapt quickly.”

 “Come at me,” Tekhet instructed, picking up a wooden sword for himself. “Let’s see how much you’ve learned.”

 “Both of us at the same time?” asked Sarah.

 “What better way for me to learn as well? I have rarely fought anyone of his height, or any woman.” Tekhet challenged. “Come.”

 “You heard the man, Sarah.” The Doctor took a few steps towards Tekhet, then leapt at him. Sarah quickly joined in.

 The sparring match came to an end when Sarah tired first. “This was great,” she stated, catching her breath and rotating her fatigued wrist.

 Tekhet took the wooden swords and returned them to their rack. “You both have the fire of Sekhmet within you.”

 “Sekhmet again, huh?” Sarah remarked to the Doctor.

 The Doctor gave a little nod to Sarah, and said to the guard captain, “Thank you for the lesson. It’s been most educational.”

 “Do you often give lessons to random civilians?” Sarah inquired.

 Tekhet shook his head with a smile. “Come, I will escort you from the palace grounds.”

 As they walked, Sarah and the Doctor arm-in-arm, Tekhet said, “You have the air of travelers. With your title, Doctor, do you travel around teaching or healing?”

 “Oh no, we’re only travelers,” the Doctor replied. “Interested in the wonders of the world.”

 “Although, your comparison to Sekmet is well founded,” Sarah added.

 Tekhet’s opened his mouth in an understanding expression. “I see. So, you are only visiting Alexandria?”

 “For a few days.”

 “This is truly a beautiful city.”

 “Yes, and Cleopatra has brought much prosperity to it.” As they emerged out on the city street, Tekhet asked, “And where do you go next?”

 “East,” the Doctor answered.

 “To the Hippodrome outside the city, or further to Herakleion?”

 “As far as our fancy takes us.”

 “Well, if you go to Herakleion, you cannot miss the opportunity to visit the bathhouse. Most splendid.” Tekhet leaned in close to say, “More beautiful than the ones here.”

 “Blasphemy, surely?” Sarah joked.

 Tekhet shook his head. “There is a palace there, which Cleopatra occupied before she took complete rule of Egypt. Comparisons between the two are most fair. The aromas, music, atmosphere… the palace and bathhouse of Herakleion is a wonder.”

 “We can’t pass up such an endorsement,” the Doctor replied. “Any other recommendations for our travels?”

 “The chariot races at the Hippodrome are exciting, of course.” Tekhet laughed, “Just do not bet much coin, or you may lose it all.”

 “Always sound advice,” Sarah replied.

 Tekhet stopped. “This is where I leave you. Doctor, Sarah, I wish you good fortune in your travels. May the light of the gods favor you.”

 “And you, Tekhet,” the Doctor slightly bowed his head to the man. Sarah copied the motion. They watched him head back to the palace for a moment, then turned and headed to a market to buy dinner.

 “What an afternoon,” Sarah remarked. “A Greek play, then getting into a fight in the street, then being trained in swordfighting by Cleopatra’s guard captain!”

 “Yes, quite an interesting turn of events.”

 “It is a bit of a shame we couldn’t see more of the palace and meet Cleopatra herself, but I can’t be too disappointed.” Sarah chuckled. “Probably for the best, really. Who knows what sort of political intrigue we might’ve gotten caught up in.”

 The Doctor noticed Sarah rubbing at her wrist and forearm. “Are you hurt?”

 “What?” Sarah realized what she was doing. “Oh, no, just a bit sore. Well worth it to learn all that. I only hope we won’t have to use our new skills anytime soon.”

 The Doctor stopped walking and took Sarah’s arm to gently massage the aching part himself. “That would be preferable.”

 Sarah smiled softly at the attention, and raised her head in the air. “I smell fresh bread and cooked meat. Must be close.”

 The Doctor seemed satisfied with the state of Sarah’s arm for now, and they continued walking side-by-side through the late-afternoon streets of Alexandria.


End file.
